Raichu (Pichu, Pikachu, Hodad)
Luxsivarum ikanalu
Overview
Until the late Twentieth Century, pikachu were only common in central Japan and Alola with small invasive batteries elsewhere. They are not the most popular pokémon among Japan’s trainers. Worldwide, relatively few casual trainers used them before the 1990s. They are virtually absent from the competitive battling scene beyond the occasional use of hodad as a bird counter.
By all accounts, pikachu owes its popularity to one trainer who used a pikachu medically incapable of evolution (see Illness) and the subsequent anime and video games made about his improbable rise through the underground and officially sanctioned battling scenes of metropolitan Yamabuki. How the story and media caught on just as much, if not more so, outside of Japan than in it is a discussion for another book in another field.
Pikachu’s cuteness and perceived power led to its rise as a popular pet worldwide, even to the point of largely supplanting the popularity of related electric types such as emolga, dedenne, togedemaru, plusle, minun, and pachirisu. However, whatever the Satoshi-inspired anime and games say, most pikachu inevitably grow up. And many people find raichu to be not quite as cute as their adolescent stage. Furthermore, they seriously disrupt nearby electronics. Pichu have relatively little control over their electric sacs and can be dangerous to have around very young children, in addition to being a frequent literal and metaphorical pain for their trainer.
This is not to say that the pikachu line are bad pets, exactly. They are cute, loyal, friendly and (pichu aside) almost entirely safe. But they do not work for every trainer and those prizing cuteness in their electric-types above all else might be better served by a togedemaru, emolga or dedenne, all of which have the advantage of not growing into a larger form.
There are also misconceptions about the Alolan or Tapu raichu (referred to in this guide by their traditional name: hodad). Normal raichu are not absent from or even uncommon in Alola. Most pikachu here evolve into raichu. Hodad and raichu are both branching evolutions of pikachu like slowbro and slowking are to slowpoke. Indigenous Alolans did not and do not worship hodad; they worship Tapu Koko and believe that hodad are blessed by the land spirit. However, this veneration was only particularly common on Melemele; the residents of other islands had their own sacred emissaries.
Physiology
Plusle, pikachu and raichu are classified as pure electric-types by the Department of Agriculture. Hodad is classified as a dual electric- and psychic-type. There is some dispute as to whether they should have a third fairy-typing. As they fit the criteria for their two primary typings far better and third typings are presently disallowed, it is unlikely that hodad’s official typing changes unless the basic rules of official typings change as well.
Pichu, as well as pikachu and raichu, are predominately quadrupedal but can stand up on their hind legs if needed. Pichu are pale yellow in color, except for the fringes of their ears (black), their cheeks (pink), their tail (black), and a jagged band of fur around their neck (black). They are perhaps most easily distinguished from pikachu based on their size and the prominence of their feet. Pichu’s electric sacs are not fully developed. This makes them prone to weak discharges when startled; they can be startled by their own involuntary discharges, leading to a feedback loop of release that leaves the pichu severely drained. Their electric sacs are also not developed enough to store large amounts of electricity, meaning that their strongest discharges still don’t release as much power as the average raichu’s thunder shock attacks.
Pikachu are generally bulkier than pichu with less prominent limbs and a proportionally larger torso. The cheeks darken to a bright red color and their tail becomes longer, more jagged and coated in yellow fur. Their ears are also proportionally longer and only colored black at the very tips. Pikachu’s electric sacs are nearly as large as those of a raichu, allowing them to hold about as much electricity. Their release processes are less sophisticated and they have less experience using them, leading to frequent situations where they discharge too much at once and either hurt themselves or run out of energy quickly in a battle. However, as Satoshi’s pikachu demonstrated, their unregulated thunderbolts can be the strongest of any small electric-type.
It has been said that raichu resemble pichu far more closely than pikachu. They are proportionally longer, their ears are fringed in darker brown fur, and their feet are quite prominent, especially when compared to the stubby legs of pikachu. Raichu are darker in color than their juvenile forms, except for a cream-colored belly. This makes them appear counter-shaded, which is unusual for a purely terrestrial organism. This has led to some speculation that the ancestors of raichu could either swim or fly. The circles on raichu’s cheeks (which, contrary to popular belief, are not the exterior of their electricity pouches but rather just ornamental markings) are pale yellow in color.
Perhaps the most interesting element of raichu’s physiology is the existence of a long brown “cord” between their tail proper and the rest of their body. Most trainers can’t believe that a tail so thin can hold up the bulky lightning-bolt-shaped tip. This disbelief is supported by reality; raichu can’t hold up their tail with muscles alone. Instead, they use sophisticated electromagnetic currents to move their tail around and channel their lightning bolts. This gives them much more accuracy, range, speed and physical power than pikachu, as they can use their electricity to supply kinetic energy to their own body.
The electromagnetic currents are far more necessary in hodad. They have even larger tails with equally thin cords leading to them. Hodad often balance the rest of their body on top of their tail and fly through the air on them. This gives them the appearance of surfing. Beyond that, hodad are generally of a lighter color than raichu, with the brown fur on their paws replaced with white fur. The eyes literally bright blue (that is, their eyes emit light of their own and glow in the dark). The ears are also rounded and appear to contain a spiral pattern, although this is actually just a result of their magnetic field acting up on their fur. Hodads’ ears are also light yellow in coloration.
There is some dispute as to whether or not hodad utilize actual telekinesis or just manipulate themselves and other objects with electromagnetic fields. Hodad can be taught to use a variety of other mind-affecting attacks that give them the marking of a psychic-type. They are also quite adept at communicating with human psychics. Since telepathy and telekinesis usually go together in pokémon, it is speculated that they augment their natural electromagnetic abilities with telekinesis.
Despite common misconceptions, no member of the pikachu evolutionary line feeds upon electricity. They are all vegetarians. They prefer berries but can also eat leaves, bark and stems. Pikachu and raichu prefer to cook their food and will often use their electricity to scorch plants before eating them. Hodad feed almost exclusively upon berries and use their levitation to rise up berry trees and then dart to the next grove. They do not scorch their food.
The misconception that pikachu subsist on electricity has a clear origin: lightning often strikes near pikachu batteries. Almost every time there is a storm, the skies above the forests that pikachu and raichu inhabit will be almost constantly lit up. Raichu also flock to the areas around power plants and other crucial parts of the electric grid. All stages of the evolutionary line save hodad become tired when they have not been exposed to lightning or raw electricity in some time. After a long withdrawal period they will resume their normal activity levels, but they will not use electricity until they are recharged. Unlike most electric types, it does not appear as if they can generate their own power and must rely upon lightning strikes, leeching from the electric grid, or shocks from other pokémon, to maintain their defensive and offensive capabilities.
Hodad generate their own electricity. They are still frequently struck by lightning and briefly become hyperactive after they are hit. It is unclear how their generation works as their internal anatomy is very similar to raichu and none of the differences appear to explain this ability.
Raichu grow to around forty-four in height when standing upright, tail not included. They can weigh up to 30 pounds. Hodad grow to around two feet and can weigh up to 35 pounds. Raichu typically live for about seven years in both captivity and the wild. Hodad can live up to thirty years.
Behavior
Pichu are almost entirely dependent upon their evolved forms in the wild. They typically stay inside of their underground nests until they approach their first evolution, so it is difficult to observe their wild behaviors. In captivity and when they begin to leave their nest, pichu are incredibly curious pokémon prone to gleefully exploring their surroundings and being fascinated by individual objects, particularly human-made ones, for hours. Or until they accidentally shock it and become upset, triggering a feedback loop and often damaging the target of their affections. They are primarily nocturnal.
Pikachu spend most of their time either sleeping or foraging. Batteries can contain up to thirty individuals (including pichu and raichu), but individuals mostly forage alone. They are skilled climbers and move from tree to tree without leaving the canopy for most of the day. Pikachu are also skilled burrowers who dig shallow tunnel networks that they sleep in during the night. It is not that pikachu aren’t curious, rather, they simply devote very little time in a day to anything that isn’t survival. When they encounter a new potential nest or food source they can spend up to an hour exploring it before either committing to taking the nest over, cooking the food, or wandering away. One of pikachu’s most interesting behaviors is their tendencies to shock weakened pikachu to restore the depleted pokémon’s electricity sacs. They will sometimes even do this to pikachu in other batteries they encounter on their foraging journeys.
Raichu spend most of their day around the battery’s nest guarding against potential predators. They are not strictly diurnal or nocturnal; the raichu in a colony tend to sleep in shifts so that at least one is awake at all times. When they feel a nest is unsafe or wish to introduce their pichu to the outside world, they have the ability to warp their magnetic field to stick pichu against their backs and render them nearly incapable of escape.
Hodad do not live in the same battery as pikachu and pichu. Instead, they move between the territory of different batteries as they please. They tend to live in pairs. Rather than burrowing, they sleep in the canopy. Like pikachu, hodad are primarily diurnal, although it is also not uncommon to see them active at night, especially if there’s a storm. They do not rear their own pichu and instead drop them off in a nearby battery. In exchange, they provide protection for all batteries in their range should they be seriously threatened. If they are unable to protect a battery, they will drop their carefree attitude in a heartbeat to avenge them. It was this attribute that gave them their semi-mythical status in Alolan folklore. Chiefs who built structures in the wrong territory or dared to hunt pikachu would often wind up killed by a thunderbolt on a clear day, as if struck down by Tapu Koko himself. This vigorous defense of pikachu territory is one of the reasons Route 1 zoning is entirely controlled by the Melemele kahuna.
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Husbandry
Pichu are nearly as demanding as an actual human infant or toddler. If the parent raichu are available, it is best to simply leave the baby’s care largely in their parents’ hands (see Breeding). Because many pichu in captivity are obtained from captive hodad, who refuse to care for their own offspring, many trainers will find themselves in the position of having to raise a pichu on their own.
The first major challenge the trainer will face is that very young pichu require raichu milk to survive. This can be purchased at some specialty breeder supply stores in Alola’s large cities. Travel should not be attempted with a very young pichu as a constant supply of milk is needed and even brief disruptions can lead to starvation. As they grow older pichu become more willing to eat mashed up fruit and, eventually, some crushed leaves. Pichu at this age should not be shocked because a pichu with electricity means shocks for their human caretakers in addition to frequent fires as they begin to explore their environment.
Young pichu should be stored in a room either without electrical outlets or with well covered and insulated ones. Their room should contain no sharp or heavy objects and should contain enclosed and soft spaces for them to retreat to when scared. This will occur very often, as pichu are scared of nearly everything until they approach evolution. They should also be given toys such as exercise wheels and objects dangling from string. Like all stages of the pikachu line, they will require something to gnaw on as well, lest they begin to burrow out of the door or walls. To be safe, pichu should never be put into a pokéball until they reach three months of age, and then the ball should be only sparingly used.
Pikachu require far less constant care. They are very social pokémon who tend to resent pokéballs and anything else they see as separating them from their trainer. Pikachu love most machines; the machines tend not to love pikachu back. Keep them away from any electronics that haven’t been specifically made to resist electric types. Pikachu will need somewhat frequent electric charges. Access to a simple electrical outlet can usually do the trick. Alternatively, pikachu chargers are available for sale at most Pokémon Centers in Alola. The machines’ efficacy seems to vary depending upon the exact model and individual pikachu.
Pikachu, raichu and hodad will all eat as much as they can. This will often prove to be more than their metabolisms can handle. Feed them a quantity roughly equal to one fifth of their body weight each day. They will beg for more food after battles, but they do not need food so much as a good charge. The pokémon will still exploit their human’s ignorance about that if they can. Pichu should be fed whenever they cry. If they do not accept the food, move on to other potential problems (minor injury, dirty litter, broken toys).
Pikachu enjoy frequent battles and exercise as well as enrichment in the form of new toys to experiment and play with or new locations to explore. If you do not want a pikachu to attempt to burrow in a home, provide them with some sort of enclosed area they can retreat to. Like all stages of the evolutionary line, they can be housebroken.
Raichu are more sedentary than pikachu. Despite this they require more electricity and the same amount of food to maintain their fields. Some raichu are fine with pokéballs; most are not. In general, they are less social than pikachu and more content to spend time alone or with another pokémon. Their electrical field makes them poor housepets as they have a habit of accidentally frying devices in their home. Traveling trainers with a raichu can find themselves burning through multiple phones a year.
Hodad are even rougher on electronic devices due to the increased strength of their field. They are also more active and social than raichu and require time on their own to fly. Otherwise, they will get very energetic and start accidentally discharging electricity like a pichu. It is believed that flight is how they release excess energy, something that is constantly a problem for them as they generate their own supply. Hodad have a notorious sweet tooth and can be easily bribed and trained with their favorite type of berry. They prefer to sleep cuddled against either their trainer or a fluffy pokémon, preferably an electric type. Most fluffy pokémon hate getting their fur messed up by static electricity, so hodad trainers should just accept that they’re going to wake up most mornings next to a drooling pokémon and with their hair sticking every which way. Short haircuts and cheap pajamas are recommended for hodad trainers.
Illness
Some pikachu have problems with their electricity sacks that make the process of evolution medically inadvisable. There is a surgical procedure that can prevent them from undergoing it. Pikachu so altered typically live for five years, which is only a little longer than they would have otherwise lasted. The main reason this surgery is actually performed in practice is to ensure that the pokémon stays as a cute and relatively powerful pikachu forever. As such there are an increasing number of veterinarians and surgeons who will not perform the procedure at all.
Most health problems any member of the evolutionary line will have are related to their electric sacs. These problems are usually temporary and work themselves out again after a good charge or discharge. Consult a veterinarian if teh pokémon continues to have unusual difficulty with their electricity, such as accidental releases for pikachu, raichu or hodad, painful discharges or shying away from electronics or other electric-types.
As they age some raichu and hodad experience senility and a partial loss of hearing. This is very common among related species and should be accepted. However, this often leads to raichu being unable to easily distinguish verbal commands. A raichu older than seven years should never be ordered to use thunder wave if the trainer isn’t fine with them using thunderbolt instead.
Evolution
Pichu and pikachu evolve in brief periods of four to six days. The exact catalyst for evolution is unknown, but the leading theory is that it is tied to their total lifetime exposure to electricity. Usually this evolution occurs between four and six months of age for pichu and three to five years of age for pikachu. Exposure to thunder stones can almost immediately trigger an evolution in a pikachu. This amount of electricity can be dangerous or even fatal for a pichu and no effort should be made to force their evolution. Shortly before evolution, the pokémon becomes very hyperactive and begins to eat anything it possibly can. Then it goes sluggish for a few days of very rapid growth. They will prefer to retreat into their burrow for the duration of this process in the wild and some equivalent structure should be provided in captivity. Evolution might generate electricity; in any case, the pokémon will be incredibly charged immediately after completing the process and will be nearly as energetic as they were before evolution (if a lot clumsier as they adjust to their new body).
Hodad evolution is different. Sometimes, particularly on Melemele, a thunderstone with a spiral pattern carved into one surface will appear. A pikachu exposed to these stones will immediately begin a flash evolution into hodad. These stones can also be broken up into pieces that can serve as impromptu z-crystal to allow for a massive, temporary increase in the power of a hodad’s electromagnetic field.
Battle
Pikachu have a small niche in competitive battling given the sheer power they can unleash. Once. Maybe twice. If the attack is blocked, dodged or the pikachu is knocked out before they can execute it, they won’t deal any damage at all in the fight. Given pikachu’s size and relative frailty, they are not durable enough to take almost any hit from a pokémon on the competitive circuits at all.
Hodad holds a more substantial role, if only barely so. Flying electric-types are understandably popular for their ability to not only strike birds with powerful weakness-targeting moves, but to keep up with them in their home turf. Unfortunately for hodad, vikavolt exists and is both faster and more powerful. Hodad holds some niche advantages, though, like better offensive and defensive movepools with attacks such as focus blast, encore, magic coat and reflect. Birds are also less likely to know bug buzz, shadow ball or dark pulse than they are to know heat wave. But even on their good days, hodad aren’t capable of firing off thunderbolts half as powerful as a vikavolt’s. And vikavolt have the added perk of not frying their trainer’s cell phone.
Raichu are neither fast nor powerful enough to earn a substantial role in competitive battling. Some recent trainers have used them early in their careers. They usually obtained one after being misled by video games or television and the trainer was then unwilling or unable to convince a veterinarian to render their pikachu incapable of evolution.
This is not to say that either raichu or hodad is bad for casual battling or the island challenge. To start with, raichu and hodad are much easier to obtain, evolve and train than vikavolt. And their thunderbolts are more than capable of keeping pace with even the later totem pokémon and grand trials. It should be noted that raichu is not particularly bulky and hodad is even frailer. For the most part they should be used as ranged nukes that can hold their own up close if necessary but are better served getting in hits from a distance and keeping their opponent at bay. Moves such as double team and protect are a hodad or raichu’s best friend.
Pikachu are also frail, but they are quite capable of taking the average hits of the first two islands’ trials. By the time the third island comes around, it may be time to evolve them. They battle much like their evolutions, although early on it might be practical to mix in physical moves such as iron tail, quick attack or slam as their opponents will also be relatively frail and the pikachu can’t keep up thunder shocks for long without exhausting themselves.
Pichu should be battled with sparingly and against weak opponents only, and even then they should only be battled with at all after they reach three months of age. It is best to leave them to nursery room fights against other very young pokémon.
Acquisition
All stages of the pikachu line are often found around Hau’oli City and in Route 1.
Raising a pichu born in captivity or abandoned by a requires a Class IV license. Raising a pichu with a male raichu requires only a Class II license, or a Class I license if you have a female raichu. (The disparity is due to the difficulty of obtaining milk without a female raichu.) Hodad will not raise a pichu and thus do not discount the license requirement. Pichu should never be captured inside of their nest as this is against commonwealth law. But a fine is the least of your worries if you disturb a pichu nest, as hodad tend to aggressively avenge those transgressions. Pichu out of a nest can be captured with a Class II license. Pichu over three months of age can also be adopted or purchased with a Class II license.
Pikachu can be adopted, purchased or captured with a Class I license. However, pikachu can only be captured inside of Route 1 after defeating at least one of the Melemele trials. Even then, only one pikachu capture per trainer is allowed. The restrictions in Hau’oli City itself are far laxer. Both pichu and raichu are commonly available from breeders.
Raichu and hodad may not be captured from the wild in Alola. However, many trainers abandon them to shelters after they lose their first cell phone. This makes them rather easy to adopt. Both require a Class III license to adopt or purchase.
Breeding
Female raichu mate with a male in their battery about once a year. After a five-week pregnancy, they give birth to two pichu. Raichu carefully guard all pichu in their nest, regardless of parentage. They do not allow them to leave the nest at all until they reach about three months of age, and even then they are only allowed to leave when magnetically glued to a raichu’s back. They are only allowed to explore on their own after another two to four weeks.
Hodad pairs sometimes never mate. They also frequently form homosexual pairs that, regardless of whether they mate or not, cannot reproduce. Sometimes hodad pairs mate and reproduce up to three times a year. Hodad pregnancy is very similar to raichu pregnancy. After their young are born, the male hodad will glue them to his body and seek out a nearby battery to drop the pichu off at. Hodad don’t seem to have any preference as to which battery they drop eggs off at. Some pairs will drop theirs off at the same one every time, and others will drop them off at a different one each time. There does not appear to be any clear driving factor behind their selection.
Relatives
There are two recognized species of pikachu, the Japanese and Alolan species. The Japanese pikachu, L. luxsilvarum, has a thicker coat and grows slightly larger. Their fur patterns are also a little bit darker. The main difference between the two is the Japanese pikachu’s inability to evolve into hodad, even when exposed to the proper stone.
While the Japanese pikachu was originally confined to central and northern Japan, the pet trade has since brought them to almost every corner of the world. Abandonments and escapes have led to feral populations near most major cities in temperate climates.